1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of assembling a raised dry-floor so as to form a space between the floor and the surface of the existing foundation floor or sub-floor in a variety of buildings such as apartment houses, mansions and the like, and a raised dry-floor unit used for carrying out the method, and more particularly to the arrangements of floor panels and members for bridging the gaps between the floor panels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Raised floors have been constructed by supporting a plurality of floor panels formed out of wood, metal, concrete, calcium silicate based material, etc. by means of a plurality of supporting legs installed on a foundation floor or sub-floor at a predetermined height, and the spaces between the existing foundation floor faces and the raised floors are utilized as that for passing various kinds of pipings such as water supply and drainage pipes and gas supply pipes, that for passing electrical and communication wirings, that for installing air-conditioning ducts or cooling and heating ducts under the raised floor, that for laying thermal insulation materials or sound-proofing materials under the raised floor, and also as air-conditioning ducts or the like for enhancing the sound-proofing effect or the thermal insulation effect.
A prior art method of assembling a raised dry-floor is, as shown in FIG. 1, to put side by side floor units 3 each comprised of a square or rectangular floor panels 4 of a predetermined dimension having four to six supporting legs 5 attached to the four corners and the central part thereof on a concrete slab (foundation floor or sub-floor) 1, and then lay intermediate plywood laminates 6 thereon. The numeral 2 indicates a wall or a partition wall. In an alternative method, as shown in FIG. 2, floor units 3a each comprised of two sheets of floor panels 4 adhesively bonded and having supporting legs 5 attached to the lower panel only on one side thereof where the other floor panel is not lapped on are used, and when joining adjacent floor units, the opposite side of the upper panel of one floor unit to which the supporting legs are not attached is placed on the supporting leg attached portion of the lower panel of the other floor unit. In this case too, intermediate plywood laminates are laid on the raised floor thus assembled.
Further, another method of assembling a raised dry-floor using plywood floor panels in the same manner as the method shown in FIG. 2, but without using intermediate plywood laminates has also been proposed. In this case, use is made of a construction wherein a rectangular panel 7 is lapped on a L-shaped frame plate 9 only in the joined portion (i.e., the portion to which supporting legs 8 are attached), and the remainder portion is formed by only one sheet of plywood laminate (rectangular panel), and also in the joined portion the panel 7 of the other floor unit is consequentially supported by only one sheet of plywood laminate (frame plate 9) as shown in FIG. 3 Therefore, it is anticipated in the actual execution of work that it will become essential to lay intermediate plywood laminates on the raised floor thus assembled in order to obtain a sufficient strength in the joints of floor units 3b. Further, this method requires working and machining operations such as attaching work of a frame plate 9 to each of floor panels 7 and drilling operation at a factory with the result that an increase in the cost thereof in terms of materials and labor is unavoidable.
As described herein above, the prior art method of assembling a raised floor is to dispose floor units closely or at predetermined intervals on a foundation floor or sub-floor, and then lay intermediate plywood laminates thereon. In case a floor covering material, in particular, a soft or flexible floor covering material, such as a floor covering sheet and a carpet, is directly laid on the floor units thus constructed, without laying the intermediate plywood laminates, even if the floor panels are laid closely, a step-like difference in level will be created between the adjacent floor panels. On the other hand, in case floor panels are disposed leaving predetermined gaps between them, each time a person treads on the gap portions between the floor panels, the gap portions are liable to sink, making it difficult to walk thereon, and also a problem on the strength of the gap portions will arise. Therefore, it becomes inevitable to lay intermediate plywood laminates on the floor panels. Consequently, increase in the cost due to the material expenses of the intermediate plywood laminates and increase in the personnel expenditure due to the labor for laying the intermediate plywood laminates, and a prolongation in the term of work become unavoidable.
However, in view of the manpower shortage and the increase in prices of commodities at the present time, a method of assembling a raised dry-floor which requires labor as little as possible and can be carried out at a low cost has been sought after.
Japanese Patent Application laid open to public inspection, KOKAI No. HEI 3-17348 discloses a method of assembling a raised dry-floor which uses in combination a group of unit supporting legs each comprised of a rod-shaped leg member and a supporting plate mounted on the upper end of said rod-shaped leg member in such a manner that it may be moved up and down to adjust the level thereof, and a group of rectangular floor panels each having a predetermined dimension. This method is to dispose the unit supporting legs on the surface of a foundation floor at prescribed pitches, and dispose floor panels leaving predetermined gaps therebetween such that they are supported by the above-mentioned unit supporting lees at positions along their marginal portion and longitudinal center lines. By this method, the floor panels can be laid comparatively simply and efficiently. In this method too, however, since the floor panels are laid leaving predetermined gaps between them and supported at the marginal portions by the unit supporting legs, intermediate plywood laminates are laid on the floor panels thus assembled, and also a floor covering material is laid thereon. In case the intermediate plywood laminates are not laid all over the floor panels, each time a person treads on the gap portions between the floor panels with his feet, he is sensible of the presence of the gap portions through his soles and his body weight bears generally on either one of the floor panels so that a problem will arise wherein a step-like difference in level is created between the adjoining floor panels thus worsening the stability of the floor and he has a sense of incompatibility through sensing the presence of the step-like difference in level through his soles.